The Michigan eLibrary—better known as MeL— is an online system that provides incredibly helpful resources to all manner of readers. Not only does it offer an interloan service that allows you to check out items your library doesn’t own, but it also has an online, user friendly catalog of eResources that can help you find academic journals, periodicals, and more. However, one of my favorite aspects of the MeL system is a database called NoveList Plus.
NoveList Plus is an online record of thousands of novels, all separated into categories based on things like age level and genres. It has book lists for almost every genre I can think of, whether it be the broad genre of “domestic fiction” to something much more specific like “food writing.” In addition to that, each book is also flagged with descriptors like “fast-paced,” “heartwarming,” or “illustrative.” These descriptors mean if you want to read a book with a very specific atmosphere, NoveList Plus’s “appeal mixer” will let you sort by those descriptors and give you a custom list of popular books that fit your criteria.
The feature that has been the most helpful to me is the individual book page itself! Say you read a book recently and have been having a hard time finding books similar to it. If you pull the book up on NoveList Plus, you’ll have two options to help you find more books just like the one you read. NoveList Plus creates a list of “Read-Alikes” for each book in its system, so any time you pull up an individual book, a list of similar ones will show up on the right-hand side of the page.
If you scroll further down, NoveList Plus also creates a “subject list” for each of its books. Subject lists include the parts of a book that are incredibly specific. If you finished something and really wanted to read another book just like it, NoveList Plus gives you the option to search for more books flagged with those exact subjects, like baking, amnesia, or “lost in space.” This ability is very helpful when you’re in a reading stump and nothing you’re picking up seems to fit that exact formula you’re trying to find.
NoveList Plus’s book database is independent from ours, meaning we may not own some of the items in its catalog. However, if we don’t own the item you’re looking for, you may be able to order it from a different library. Give us a call or ask a staff member to learn more.
To see all of MeL’s electronic resources, click here.
Kayla has worked at the Charlotte Community Library for 4 years, but has been visiting as a patron for over 10. She currently works as the inter-library loan processor and blames NoveList Plus on her ever-growing TBR shelf.
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